✿ [For either Eph or Jude over at cookiesandkeyblades idk who's more likely to get a kiss lol. Or both. haha]
send me a ✿ and i’ll generate a number.
Coming and going is part of who Ephemera is, Ienzo knows this. He picks at his coat’s sleeve, looking at his shoes to keep his displeasure from showing. He’s grown attached despite knowing better; Ephemera is worse than than a stray cat, and Ienzo made the mistake of feeding him the first time their paths crossed.
Even so, Radiant Garden is not his home. It could be. He’d be welcome to stay if he so desired, and Ienzo isn’t the only one to think so. But he won’t, not until his wanderlust or whatever it is that keeps him on the road is satisfied, and so Ienzo won’t tell him. Instead, he takes a step closer and is forced to look up and at Ephemera’s eyes. He frowns a little as he grabs the red scarf wrapped around Ephemera’s neck to tug him down enough so that Ienzo can press a kiss against his forehead.
“—You know where to find me if you decide to visit again.”
They’re steadily working their way through a batch of sugar cookies Jude baked this morning -- not for Ienzo, mind you, but to the palace guards that recently returned to their duties. Only Ienzo caught a whiff of them before they managed to reach their destination, and there is nothing in the worlds that can stop him from acquiring baked goods when he sets his mind to it. He takes a satisfied bite from his cookie; it tastes like success.
It also tastes oddly like smiles that bring a rosy tint to his cheeks and soft huffs of laughter that make small wings flutter rapidly in Ienzo’s stomach. It’s all very confusing. They’re seated next to each other, sharing the cookies and some tea that Ienzo had prepared. There’s also a pile of books stacked before them on the table, waiting to be cracked open. It should be comfortable. Well, it is, but there are cookie crumbs resting just below the right corner of Jude’s mouth, and it’s distracting. Terribly so, and Ienzo can’t keep his eyes off of them. He keeps glancing at them every other second before quickly looking away, not wanting to be caught staring for whatever reason.
After several cookies and an eternity later, Ienzo finally can’t take it any longer. The crumbs have to go.
“You have some”, he begins and cuts himself off when Jude turns to look at him. He can feel his face heating up, which is ridiculous. “Here,” he gestures at his own mouth, and when Jude makes an attempt to swipe the crumbs away and fails, Ienzo huffs in frustration and leans closer. He means to swipe them away with his thumb, but when he has a hold of the older man’s face Ienzo just ... freezes. He presses their lips together before he even realises what he’s doing, catching the offending crumbs with his lower lip. It’s only a light press of their mouths together and lasts no more than a brief moment before Ienzo pulls away, face red and eyes wide, like Jude had just surprised him with a kiss and not the other way around.
